Lynda Johnson is a current board member on the ABC Unified School District School Board. She won election against four other candidates on November 5, 2013. Johnson was first elected to the board in 2011.

What was at stake?

Voting Rights Act lawsuit

In April 2013, a lawsuit was filed by three district residents under allegations that the ABC Unified School District School Board trustee system does not accurately represent the district as a whole. The current system of At Large trustees has five Asian trustees and two white trustees. All elected trustees are from the Cerritos area of the district, despite the district encompassing all or part of five cities. Former trustee applicant and plaintiff Olga Rios has sued in order to have the district change to a trustee district election system, where the district would be divided into seven geographic zones, with representatives elected from each of them. The 2002 California Voter Rights Act prohibits local governments from holding at-large elections if that system impairs the ability of minority groups to elect candidates of their choice.[4][5]

About the district

Location

ABC Unified School District is located on the Southeastern edge of Los Angeles County, California in Cerritos, California. It is located in the largest county in California. According to the 2010 Census, it is home to 49,041 residents.[6]

Demographics

Cerritos outperforms the rest of California when measured on the basis of median household income, percentage of residents living below the poverty level, percentage of residents over the age of 25 with a Bachelor's degree, and percentage of residents over the age of 25 with a high school diploma. The median household income in Cerritos was $87,853 compared to $61,632 for the state of California. 48.2% of Cerritos residents aged 25 years and older attained a bachelor's degree compared to a 30.2 in California. The US Census also showed the poverty rate in Cerritos was 5.5% compared to 14.4% for the entire state. The US Census also found that 92.5% of Cerritos residents aged 25 years and older attained a high school degree compared to a 80.8% in California.[8]